Inspirational Basketball Quotes from Basketball Coaches

Basketball Quotes We're talking about motivational basketball quotes like Kareem Adbul-Jabbar's, Michael Jordan, Bob Knight"One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team." We've also got inspirational quotes from respected basketball coaches such as John Wooden, who pointed out that "Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."

And then there are famous basketball quotes from players like Dennis Rodman, who appropriately once said "This life is like a swimming pool. You dive into the water, but you can't see how deep it is" You'll be amazed by our collection of words spoken by players and coaches alike. Whether you're a free-throw wonder or a court-side spectator, you're sure to enjoy the serious and funny basketball quotes in our list...

“The single most important aspect of coaching is running effective practices”– Bob Knight

“The key is not the ‘will to win’… everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important”– Bob Knight

“You don’t play against opponents; you play against the game of basketball”– Bob Knight

“The goal is to make practice more difficult, physically/mentally, than anything your players will face during a game”– Bob Knight

“Basketball is a full court game, so every drill must be done full court”– Bob Knight

“I always designed my practice plans the night before and then made tweaks a few hours before practice began”– Bob Knight

“I hate casual shooting. Every shot is preceded by working to get open and catch and shoot under game like conditions”– Bob Knight

“What is the best thing you can do in a close game? Drive to the basket and put pressure on the defense! Not jack up jump shots”– Bob Knight Quotes

“Passing is your best weapon against man to man. Dribble penetration is your best weapon against zone”– Bob Knight

“Players must be able to carry out simple instructions from the bench to the court. If they can’t, then they can’t play”– Bob Knight

“Discipline is doing what has to be done, when it has to be done, as well as it can be done, and doing it that way all the time”– Bob Knight

“I just love the game of basketball so much. The game! I don’t need the 18,000 people screaming and all the peripheral things. To me, the most enjoyable part is the practice and preparation”– Bob Knight

“Mental is to the physical as four is to one”– Bob Knight

“Offense is not equal opportunity”– Bob Knight

“Perform drills that force your players to think”– Bob Knight

“I sit and wonder why no one uses the shot fake. The shot fake, when used correctly, can eliminate a defender”– Bob Knight

“Coaches shouldn’t have to push you to work hard, you should push yourself to work hard because you want to be a great player”– Bob Knight

“A quick way for any player to make himself better is to think about what he himself doesn’t like to play against”– Bob Knight

“Good basketball always starts with good defense!”– Bob Knight

“My practices were not set up to be easy or enjoyed”– Bob Knight

“In order to achieve to achieve positive results, one must work for them, not hope for them”– Bob Knight

“Defense is all about helping. No one can guard a good dribbler, You have to walk kids through how to help and then how to help the helper”– Bob Knight

Brad Stevens Basketball Quotes

“The key is to maintain an evenness. Try to play one possession at a time, regardless of what happened on the last possession”– Brad Stevens

“You have a choice to make when you’re not playing. Either you’re invested and a great teammate, or your not”– Brad Stevens

“The game honors toughness”– Brad Stevens

“We’re building a culture of accountability, trust, and togetherness. Entitlement will not be tolerated”– Brad Stevens

“The difference between a good defensive team and a bad defensive team is as little as three possessions”– Brad Stevens

“You have to earn your right to win the game with effort and togetherness”– Brad Stevens

“How good can we expect to be if our best player is not our best teammate”– Brad Stevens

“My goal is to win the next game one possession at a time. That’s it. I don’t have any other goals”– Brad Stevens

Dean Smith Basketball Quotes

“You should always sub a player out when you see them not going full speed or they’re playing selfish basketball”– Dean Smith

“What do you do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it”– Dean Smith

“I always mean what I say, but I don’t always say what I’m thinking”– Dean Smith

“I would never recruit a player who yells at his teammates, disrespected his high school coach, or scores 33 points a game and his team goes 10-10”– Dean Smith

“One player’s selfish attitude can poison a locker room and make it hard, if not impossible, to establish team work”– Dean Smith

“There is a lot of basketball beyond our control, but a player should never let anyone try harder than he does”– Dean Smith

“Basketball is a beautiful game when the five players on the court play with one heartbeat”– Dean Smith

“If you make every game a life and death proposition, you’re going to have problems. For one thing, you’ll be dead a lot”– Dean Smith

“Basketball is a team game. But that doesn’t mean all five players should take the same amount of shots”– Dean Smith

“One player’s selfish attitude can poison the locker room and make it hard, if not impossible, to establish teamwork”– Dean Smith

“Over coaching is the worst thing you can do to a player”– Dean Smith

“Only praise behavior that you want to be repeated. Never use false praise”– Dean Smith

“I can’t make every decision for you. I don’t have 14 timeouts. You guys got to get together and talk”– Gregg Popovich

“Stop by stop by stop. Play aggressively. Sprint back on ‘D’ and pay attention to how we’re supposed to guard as a team”– Gregg Popovich

“We believe in people executing their role and caring about the team more than anything individually”– Gregg Popovich

“No one is bigger than the team. If you can’t do things our way, you’re not getting time here and we don’t care who you are”– Gregg Popovich Quotes

Hubie Brown Basketball Quotes

“X & O’s aren’t worth a damn without a team. If your team isn’t with you it doesn’t matter what you draw up. The team must respect what the coach is asking them to do”– Hubie Brown

“Winning teams at the NBA level, the college level, and the high school level all play team basketball. Championship teams have 5 players on the same page at all times”– Hubie Brown

“Don’t try to imitate other coaches. Be your own person with your own style and do your own thing”– Hubie Brown

“The greatest sin a coach can commit is to allow kids to slide by. This goes for the classroom as well as the court”– Hubie Brown

“Use different basketball offensive alignments to cause confusion for the other team”– Hubie Brown

“If something works for another school, use it. Don’t act like you are too good to use other ideas”– Hubie Brown Quotes

Jeff Van Gundy Quotes

“Your decisions reveal your priorities”– Jeff Van Gundy

“Your best player has to set a tone of intolerance for anything that gets in the way of winning”– Jeff Van Gundy

“Just concentrate on what you’re supposed to do”– Jeff Van Gundy

“Shooting percentage is just as much about decision making as it is about technique”– Jeff Van Gundy

“Your best players have to unite and inspire the group… otherwise, they’ll divide the group”– Jeff Van Gundy

“I think coaches sometimes foul their own players out of game by benching them too long when in foul trouble” – Jeff Van Gundy

“Players with high character get better. Players with a serious approach get better. The fools never get better”– Jeff Van Gundy

“You need your best players to play their best when their best is needed”– Jeff Van Gundy

“Don’t worry about being cool. Worry about being the best”– Jeff Van Gundy Quotes

Jim Valvano Quotes

“Other people go to the office. I get to coach. I know I’ve been blessed”– Jim Valvano

“A person really doesn’t become whole, until he becomes a part of something that’s bigger than himself”– Jim Valvano

“To go from where you are to where you want to be: you have to have a dream, a goal, and you have to be willing to work for it”– Jim Valvano

“Never give up. Failure and rejection are just the first steps to succeeding”– Jim Valvano

“Be a dreamer. If you don’t know how to dream, you’re dead”– Jim Valvano

“All really successful coaches have a system”– Jim Valvano

“If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special”– Jim Valvano

“There are 86,400 seconds in a day. It’s up to you to decide what to do with them”– Jim Valvano Quotes

John Calipari Basketball Quotes

“What type of teammates do you want to play with? Be that teammate yourself”– John Calipari

“I’m playing the guys who are going to fight. If you’re not into this, I’m going to someone else”– John Calipari

“You have to lose yourself in the team and you have to lose yourself in the game”– John Calipari

“If I walk in a home and a kid disrespects a woman, his mother or grandmother, then I am out… I wont recruit them”– John Calipari

“Practice gotta be harder than the games and it never is unless you want it to be as a player. The coach can’t drive that”– John Calipari

“It’s not just about working hard, it’s about working together. You have to care more about the team than you do about yourself”– John Calipari

“You understand, you do not invent stuff on this team. Guys that invent stuff will not play for me. Make the easy play”– John Calipari

“What do you do to help us win when you’re not scoring baskets?”– John Calipari Quotes

John Wooden Basketball Quotes

“The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move”– John Wooden

“When the legs go, the heart soon follows”– John Wooden

“Young men need more models, not critics”– John Wooden

“1. Be on time.
2. Never criticize a teammate.
3. Never use profanity”– John Wooden

“You’d like to see your team reasonably happy, but that’s not your job. Gain their respect and get them to accept their roles”– John Wooden

“I do not judge success based on championships; rather, I judge it on how close we came to realizing our potential”– John Wooden

“My philosophy of defense is to keep the pressure on an opponent until you get to his emotions”– John Wooden

“The more concerned we become over the things we can’t control, the less we will do with the things we can control”– John Wooden

“A coach must never forget that he is a leader and not merely a person with authority”– John Wooden

“Remember this, the choices you make in life, make you”– John Wooden

“What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player”– John Wooden

“The better conditioned team will probably win in the long run”– John Wooden

“I continually stress to my players that all I expect from them at practice and in the games is their maximum effort”– John Wooden

“I found the bench to be the greatest ally when I had to make individuals comply with what was best for the team”– John Wooden

“The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother”– John Wooden

“Push yourself to keep improving or you’ll stay as close to the bottom as you are to the top”– John Wooden

“I would spend almost as much time planning a practice as conducting it. Everything was planned out each day”– John Wooden

“Be quick without hurrying”– John Wooden

“It’s important to keep trying to do what you think is right no matter how hard it is or how often you fail. Never stop trying”– John Wooden

“When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare”– John Wooden

“Let me give so much time to the improvement of myself that I shall have no time to criticize others”– John Wooden

“Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability”– John Wooden

“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment”– John Wooden

“A player who makes a team great is better than a great player”– John Wooden

“The best competition I have is against myself to become better”– John Wooden

“Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference”– John Wooden

“You discipline those under your supervision to correct, to help, and to improve. Not to punish”– John Wooden

“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one”– John Wooden

“Discipline yourself, and others won’t need to”– John Wooden

“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team”– John Wooden

“The true athlete should have character, not be a character”– John Wooden

“Confidence comes from being prepared”– John Wooden

“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes”– John Wooden

“Leaders are interested in finding the best way rather than having their own way”– John Wooden Quotes

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Basketball Quotes

“When you’re a coach you’ve got to go up the ladder, you’ve got to be ready to travel. That’s the nature of coaching”– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody”– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“As a parent, I have a job as a role model to my children, and by extension, to other young people”– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team”– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done”– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go. Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body”– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them not to let that be their only dream”– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“I try to do the right thing at the right time. They may just be little things, but usually they make the difference between winning and losing”– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“It’s OK to make mistakes. That’s how we learn. When we compete, we make mistakes”– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes

Kevin Eastman Basketball Quotes

“It takes three things to be a ‘special’ player: talent, character, and competitive fire”– Kevin Eastman

“The pass is a very powerful team builder; whereas the dribble can destroy the spirit of teams and crack the foundation of team play”– Kevin Eastman

“Cutting is so important to great offense. Players must understand that every cut you make is not always for you. Hard cuts often get others open”– Kevin Eastman

“Put great thought to what and how you practice. Once practice is done you can never get that time back. Did you simulate the game?”– Kevin Eastman

“Most important ingredient to winning: no personal agendas. The commitment has to be ‘us’ driven not ‘me’ driven”– Kevin Eastman

“There is a direct correlation between the number of ball reversals and defensive breakdowns”– Kevin Eastman

“Coaching is making players do what they don’t want to do so they can become the player they want to become”– Kevin Eastman

“To be a great teacher of the game you must study the game; know your craft & be proud of your knowledge; but never satisfied with your knowledge”– Kevin Eastman

“Interesting thing about the best leaders is that they immerse themselves in both teaching and learning. Growth comes by both”– Kevin Eastman

“If you give shooters the right to shoot, you must give them the right to miss”– Kevin Eastman Quotes

Larry Bird Quotes

“Leadership is diving for a loose ball. It’s about being able to take it as well as dish it out. That’s the only way your going to get respect from other players”– Larry Bird

“Practice habits were crucial to my development in basketball. I didn’t play against the toughest competition in high school, but one reason I was able to do well in college was that I mastered the fundamentals. You’ve got to have them down before you can even think about playing”– Larry Bird

“I don’t know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if somebody – somewhere – was practicing more than me”– Larry Bird

“Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds”– Larry Bird

“When I was young, I never wanted to leave the court until I got things exactly correct. My dream was to become a pro”– Larry Bird

“It doesn’t matter who scores the points. It’s who gets the ball to the scorer”– Larry Bird

“Once you are labeled ‘the best’ you want to stay up there, and you can’t do it by loafing around”– Larry Bird

“I’ve got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end”– Larry Bird

“Coaches can talk and talk and talk about something, but if you get it on tape and show it to them, it is so much more effective”– Larry Bird

“Don’t let winning make you soft. Don’t let losing make you quit. Don’t let your teammates down in any situation”– Larry Bird

“There are many times when you are better off practicing than playing; but most people just don’t understand that”– Larry Bird Quotes

Larry Brown Basketball Quotes

“Failure does not come from losing, but from not trying”– Larry Brown

“The point guard is there to serve others; to keep them involved and organised”– Larry Brown

“As a coach, I feel if you can get your players to play hard and together on the defensive end, they will automatically be unselfish at the offensive end”– Larry Brown

“I feel all great teams have two things in common: defense and rebounding. So, we stress defense and rebounding every day as the most important aspects in the game to win”– Larry Brown

“I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results”– Michael Jordan

“Heart is what separates the good from the great”– Michael Jordan

“If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it”– Michael Jordan

“I’m not out there sweating for 3 hrs just to find out what it’s like to sweat”– Michael Jordan

“If it turns out that my best wasn’t good enough, at least I wont look back and say that I was afraid to try”– Michael Jordan

“Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night”– Michael Jordan

“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them”– Michael Jordan Quotes

Mike Krzyzewski Quotes

“Defense is one man guarding the ball and four others helping him”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Everyone wants to be on a team. They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They want to be in a situation where they feel that they are doing something for the greater good”– Mike Krzyzewski

“I’m looking for players who make their teammates better. You do that with enthusiasm and passion”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Everybody wants to take responsibility when you win, but when you fail, all these fingers are pointing”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Every season is a journey. Every journey is a lifetime”– Mike Krzyzewski

“A common mistake among those who work in sport is spending a disproportional amount of time on “x’s and o’s” as compared to time spent learning about people”– Mike Krzyzewski

“I have a plan of action, but the game is a game of adjustments”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Play and practice like you are trying to make the team”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Champions play as they practice. Create a consistency of excellence in all your habits”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Don’t confuse your path with your destination. Just because its stormy now doesn’t mean you aren’t headed for sunshine”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Effort is fully replenishable. There is no need to save any of it. Leave every bit you have on the playing field”– Mike Krzyzewski

“You don’t just be a team. You become a team. Through tough games you find that you need each other”– Mike Krzyzewski

“The thing I love the most about teaching, is that you can connect with and see an individual or group exceed their limits”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Goals should be realistic, attainable, and shared among all members of the team”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Believe that the loose ball that you are chasing has your name wirtten on it”– Mike Krzyzewski

“If a team cannot perform with excellence at a moment’s notice, they probably will fail in the long run”– Mike Krzyzewski

“There are 5 fundamental qualities that make every team great: communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring, and pride”– Mike Krzyzewski

“I don’t look at myself as a basketball coach. I look at myself as a leader who happens to coach basketball”– Mike Krzyzewski

“I have a rule on my team: when we talk to one another, we look each other right in the eye, because I think it’s tough to lie to somebody. You give respect to somebody”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Footwork is one of the primary prerequisites to becoming a great player”– Mike Krzyzewski

“Each group and each youngster is different. As a leader or coach, you get to know what they need”– Mike Krzyzewski

“If the only reason I coached was to win basketball games, my life would be pretty shallow”– Mike Krzyzewski Quotes

Pat Riley Basketball Quotes

“Great players and great teams want to be driven. They want to be pushed to the edge. They don’t want to be cheated. Ordinary players and average teams want it to be easy”– Pat Riley

“The true warrior understands and seizes that moment by giving an effort so intense and so intuitive that it could only be called one from the heart”– Pat Riley

“Great teamwork is the only way we create the breakthroughs that define our careers”– Pat Riley

“In all the research you do as a coach, studying other coaches and championship-type situations, you find that all those teams combined talent with great defense. You’ve got to stop other teams to win”– Pat Riley

“It’s what you get from games you lose that is extremely important”– Pat Riley

“No rebounds – no rings”– Pat Riley

“If you get tough mentally, you can get tough physically and overcome fatigue”– Pat Riley

“Great effort springs naturally from a great attitude”– Pat Riley

“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better”– Pat Riley

“To have long-term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way”– Pat Riley

“There are only two options regarding commitment… you’re either in or you’re out. There’s no such thing as life in-between”– Pat Riley

“Never be ready to play yesterday. Being ready to play today is what’s important”– Pat Riley Quotes

Pat Summitt Basketball Quotes

“I want to continue to do is to help these young women be successful. You don’t just say goodbye at the end of their playing careers and end it there”– Pat Summitt

“You can’t always be the most talented person in the room. But you can be the most competitive”– Pat Summitt

“Admit to and make yourself accountable for mistakes. How can you improve if you’re never wrong?”– Pat Summitt

“We communicate all the time, even when we don’t realize it. Be aware of body language”– Pat Summitt

“Discipline is the only sure way I know to convince people to believe in themselves”– Pat Summitt

“Teamwork doesn’t come naturally. It must be taught”– Pat Summitt

“Confidence is what happens when you’ve done the hard work that entitles you to succeed”– Pat Summitt

“Sometimes you learn more from losing than winning. Losing forces you to reexamine”– Pat Summitt